What is our longing?

On this Village Call, we explored our shared intentions, visions and longings.

But this is not where the call began. My invitation here was to share about the topics of culture, systems and community as these topics exist within our container. For example, how does money exist or not in our container? What types of people are present and who is absent? How is hierarchy or collective organizing playing out?

As one villager shared, 'while these are tough issues to talk about, I appreciate that they are being brought up early because they can often be afterthoughts.' I also felt it was important to allow topics that exist in the space, but are often avoided, to be explicitly invited to the table. And, to not just talk about these topics philosophically or intellectually, but in direct relationship to what we are already doing or not doing in our collective space.

While inviting transparency and embodiment of our collective values into the container can create trust, there also needs to be trust to delve into these topics. Because there was hesitation and nervousness to directly address these topics, something else emerged from the group. It was an inquiry around how to feel more connected to one another. Then a question emerged from one of the villagers: 'What is our shared longing and why are we each committed to this container right now?'

This 7-minute audio clip picks up from this place in the call, and shares some of the longings expressed about, as one person called it, the movement from 'me to we'.